EXHAUSTED
by Amandah Leigh
Summary: Bellatrix Lestrange has been a mother for less than 2 weeks and she's nothing short of a hot mess. When she falls asleep and smacks her head on the table during a meeting of the Dark Lord's Death Eaters, she is certain her punishment will be severe. He sends her to his chambers to wait for him... will he show compassion for a change? Or will she suffer his wrath? 1-shot, complete.


**EXHAUSTED:**

 **An Augury Origin One-Shot**

 **Detailed Description:**

Bellatrix Lestrange has been a mother for less than two weeks now, after a difficult delivery at Malfoy Manor. She is exhausted from caring for the heir of the Dark Lord, and is still healing from the birth itself, when she falls asleep at a meeting in front of nearly the entire inner circle of Death Eaters. What will her punishment be? How can she manage to be the Dark Lord's most faithful, loyal, and _useful_ follower if she can't even keep her head up?

Series & Cursed Child Compliant. Rated: T.

 **Note:**

This exists in the same universe as my other Augury Origin Stories, including the Bellatrix trilogy, Devoted to Darkness, and Wanting Narcissa. You do not need to read any of those to read this, though. Also the very beginning of this scene also appears in Wanting Narcissa from Narcissa' point of view.

 **Important backstory:**

Bella has been sleeping with Tom Riddle since she was 17 in 1968

She became pregnant by Voldemort the night Dumbledore died

In Dec. 1997, for misconduct at a meeting (while pregnant) the Dark Lord viciously punished her

She gave birth slightly prematurely to a breech baby at the end of February, 1998

The baby has several names before Bella's death and does not become Delphini until later.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **-AL**

* * *

 **EXHAUSTED**

 **Malfoy Manor**

 **March, 1998**

"Bella!" hissed Narcissa, nudging her sister. "Bella, wake up!"

They were seated around the dining room table at Malfoy Manor, during the first inner circle meeting the Dark Lord had thrown since the birth of Baby Black (Riddle), who was, for the moment, left in the care of Squeakers the house-elf.

The Dark Lord started the meeting by explaining that because His name was now a "taboo," no one could say it without accidentally summoning Snatchers to their side, which He hoped would be instrumental in helping them catch Potter since the boy was among the very few arrogant enough to say "Voldemort" rather than "He Who Must Not Be Named." The Dark Lord then recognized Yaxley, whose work at the Ministry made the taboo possible, and expressed His regret that the Carrows and Severus Snape were unable to attend the meeting due to their obligations at Hogwarts.

Next He glanced around the table at His followers, greeting each in turn. Thorfinn and Euphemia Rowle; Hortensia Higgins and husband Rocco Pyrites; Hazel Whitecrest, who'd been supporting the Dark Lord since well before the First War but was a contemporary of Lucius' parents, thus rarely joined them anymore; longtime followers Dolohov, Travers, Macnair, and Selwyn; fathers of Draco's peers Nott, Bulstrode, Crabbe, and Goyle; Blaise Zabini's beautiful black widow mother; the Lestrange brothers, and the Malfoys, all of whom were staring back at Him with rapt attention.

But one follower, one Death Eater, the one seated directly to His left, was propped up with her elbow on the table, her cheek against her palm, and her eyes closed… asleep.

Snoring.

"Bella!" Narcissa poked her sister in the thigh. The Dark Lord stared expressionlessly at His most loyal and faithful follower. Again Narcissa nudged Bellatrix. This time, her head slipped off her hand and fell forward. She smacked her forehead on the table and jumped.

"I'm awake!" she cried, looking around panicked and confused, as if she hadn't expected to find herself in the middle of a meeting. She blinked several times before making eyes contact with her Master. "Oh… bloody hell."

"Are we keeping you from your nap, Mrs. Lestrange?" He asked.

"What? Uh, no. Not at all. I was listening. Sir."

He sneered. "Your eyes were closed."

"I was resting them!"

"You were drooling."

"I… I often drool." She chewed her lip, looking very much like Narcissa in the moment, as the blonde often did so when nervous.

"You were snoring," He said dryly. "Do you often snore while awake?"

"I…" Bellatrix looked to her sister. "I was snoring?"

Narcissa nodded.

"Sorry," Bella said, turning back to the Dark Lord. "I'm so sorry. Please don't punish me. I'm so sorry, my Lord, it's just… I'm so tired. Ever since my baby…" She dropped the end of her sentence, cut off by His sharp look and the flash of His red slitted eyed. Though some in the room knew she'd been pregnant, they'd been told the baby didn't survive childbirth. "Ever since my baby _died_ …" she went on, "I'm so tired. Exhausted, really. I'm listening now, though, I promise."

"No," said the Dark Lord, voice cold, His expression unreadable. "Go. Get out. You are of no use to me in this condition. Mrs. Malfoy? Accompany your sister to the third floor and put her to bed."

"To the third floor?" asked Narcissa, confused. The third floor was where the Dark Lord slept, not where Bella's room was. While everyone else in the room knew, or at least suspected, that Bellatrix had long been the Dark Lord's mistress, her own sister was (naively) completely in the dark, thus this direction made little sense to her. Bellatrix, on the other hand, was panicking, expecting punishment.

"Please, no, my Lord, please, I'll stay awake! It won't happen again! Please, don't send me away," Bella pleaded. The Dark Lord paid her no mind.

"The third floor," He confirmed, looking only at Narcissa. "Stay with her until I say you may go. We do not require your presence here, either."

Narcissa nodded. Bellatrix was too exhausted and upset to argue further. She allowed herself to be guided up from her chair by her sister and led toward the door. Just before exiting, she turned back.

"I'm so sorry, my Lord."

Bella was led away looking terrified, probably because the last time she'd been ejected from a meeting she'd then spent the next several hours being physically, sexually, and magically tortured by Him in punishment, an experience she did not wish to repeat.

"He wants you on the third floor," Narcissa said once they were well out of earshot, her arm still around Bella's waist. "I assume that means in His chambers."

"If He kills me, take care of my baby," said Bella, sniffling.

"He won't kill you," Narcissa assured her, feeling not at all confident in this. "We have to make Him understand, a new mother's brain, it doesn't function the way… the way it did before the baby, or before the pregnancy. Pregnancy ruins your brain and mothering a newborn is, if anything, worse. He can't expect you to function as you did before. You're bound to be exhausted. It's not your fault."

"Tell _Him_ that," said Bella, flinging herself backward onto His bed. Despite her worry, she soon fell asleep, with Narcissa sitting beside her in a conjured chair. An hour later, she awoke, complaining of sore breasts – she hadn't been able to nurse at the regular time because of the meeting. Though she wasn't sure whether this would make the Dark Lord angrier, Narcissa summoned the house-elf and asked her to deliver the baby to them, ensuring no one saw.

Moments later, Bella was finally able to breastfeed Nova Black (though newborn's name had changed a number of times since her birth, this one seemed to be sticking) and once she was done, exhaustion won out over fear as she fell asleep for awhile.

It was nearly two more hours before the Dark Lord joined them.

"Mrs. Malfoy," He said without inflection, as He took the full-bellied, snoozing infant from her mother's arms. He handed her over to Narcissa. "Mind the baby until tomorrow morning. I have business to discuss with your sister."

And with that, Bellatrix, formerly the child who never cried, burst into tears.

The Dark Lord was clearly taken aback by this and demanded she cease immediately.

"Stop. Stop that. Stop your crying."

Bellatrix did not stop crying.

"Bella…" The Dark Lord grabbed her by the back of her hair, forcing her to look at Him. "Stop crying. Your sister will take the baby until the morning so you can get a decent night's sleep. Clearly, you need it."

This was an unusually compassionate thing for Him to say, which only made Bellatrix cry harder. The Dark Lord pushed her roughly away, onto the bed, but then draped a quilt over her, thus exhibiting an unusual juxtaposition of cruelty and consideration – which, for Bellatrix, was par for the course considering their thirty year history, but to Narcissa it seemed bizarre.

He motioned for Narcissa to depart, but she paused by the door.

"How shall I feed her?" she asked nervously. She'd never been alone with the baby for more than a couple of hours before.

"How did you feed Draco?" asked the Dark Lord.

"I didn't," answered Narcissa. "We had a squib girl for a wetnurse."

"That's disgusting," said the Dark Lord with a sneer. "You allowed your son's nourishment to come from the bosom of a squib girl?"

"She..." Narcissa's eyes darted anxiously from His face, to her sister's, and back again. "She was a _nice_ squib girl."

He sneered. "You're an intelligent woman. I'm certain you can figure something out. Go."

Unwilling to argue or question Him, Narcissa went. Leaving Bellatrix alone with her Master.

Immediately upon hearing the closing of the door, she launched into another round of apologies, but He held up a hand to silence her.

"Are you happy with this baby I gave you, Bella?"

"I am, my Lord. Very happy."

"But you can hardly hold up your head."

"She's nocturnal, Master. She's up all night, wanting to be rocked, held, fed. She needs to be fed every couple of hours. My breasts are..." She clapped her hands over them. "It's not... I'm not..."

"How long will it be before you can give me what I need from you?" He sat beside her on the bed and placed his hand gently over her knee, which made her heart flutter from the sheer intimacy of it. She loved it, _lived for it,_ when He seemed to regard her as one would a lover rather than a servant.

"I... I have to get better first, Master. I... tore, remember?"

"I am not referring to intercourse, Bellatrix," He hissed. "I am intelligent enough to realize that the female body needs time to heal. What I need from you is what you've always given me as my most valuable, my most faithful, and most capable Death Eater."

"I want to be what you want me to be, Master, but I am tired. So very tired. And weak. I... I can't remember when I last showered. My body is sore. My breasts leak if I go too long without nursing her. I'm... bleeding... a little. I can't imagine myself apparating to the kitchen, never mind engaging in battle. It hasn't even been two weeks."

He rested back against the headboard, pondering this. She positioned herself in the same way, a pillow behind her back. Both were quiet for some time, during which she inched down to nearly a fully recline. Just as her eyes were drooping again, she felt the weight of Him on her. She opened her mouth, prepared to remind him that she was bleeding and sore, when she realized this embrace was not a prelude to a sexual act.

He was on His side, with an arm around her waist, and His cheek rested against her chest. His eyes were closed.

"My Lord?" she whispered. Though over the years He had, at times, held her in bed, it was typically after sex, or it would occur naturally during the night, and He'd disengage from her upon waking, frequently while expressing annoyance that His body betrayed Him by seeking her out while He was sleeping.

"I don't remember my mother," He said. "She died shortly after giving birth to me. I don't suppose she ever nursed me. I wonder if she even held me."

Bellatrix froze.

He seemed to be showing her a vulnerability she'd never seen before, not in all these years, and she was afraid one wrong move would send Him into a furious tirade. She opted not to speak and subtly utilize Occlumency so as not to upset Him, but she couldn't held placing her hand on His back, rubbing it slowly, comfortingly, as her sister did for her during the more uncomfortable late stages of her pregnancy.

"She named me for my father, did I ever tell you that?"

"No," whispered Bellatrix. "But you told me your name."

"It was his name. Tom Riddle. A common name. Not a name worthy of the wizard I would become."

"Not at all worthy, Master."

"Now my name is so feared even my followers dare not speak it. Not even you, Bella."

"Never, my Lord."

"I used to let you call me Tom on occasion. Do you remember? When you were just a girl. You were a beautiful girl."

"Yes, my Lord." She was feeling less apprehensive now, so she continued to rub His back under the material of His robe with her left hand, lightly scratching her nails over His skin, and placed her right on top of the arm held around her waist. She wondered if He could hear her heart beating through her chest. She wondered if He understood that, until their daughter was born, her heart beat only for Him. And now, for both of them.

"Azkaban was hard on you."

"Yes."

"You were there for many years."

"Too many."

"But you knew I would come for you."

"I never doubted you, my Lord. I alone insisted we look for you. I alone spoke out for you at my trial. I alone was confident you couldn't be defeated. I alone lo-..." She bit her lip as her heart raced, as she realized what she'd nearly said.

"I know."

"You know?" She stopped stroking Him. He moved closer. She could feel the evidence of his growing arousal against her upper thigh.

"You alone love me."

"Yes, my Lord."

"And you love our daughter?"

"Yes, my Lord."

"You would not die and leave her to be raised in a filthy Muggle orphanage."

Bellatrix's mind flashed back to the promise she'd begged of her sister earlier in the day: that if He should kill her, Narcissa would raise baby Nova Black.

"I would never do that to her, my Lord."

He moved into a seated position and pressed His thin, nearly nonexistent lips to hers. Her heart went from racing to fluttering, a flutter that continued into her belly and lower, down between her legs... but no, they couldn't.

He kissed her again, positioning Himself over her, pinning her arms above her head, but holding her wrists there together gently, as His other hand slid over her engorged breast.

"You've conceived and carried and birthed and nursed my heir, Bellatrix Black," He hissed into her ear.

"Yes, my Lord."

His mouth moved to her neck, to her shoulder. "You are the only one I can trust."

"Only me, Master? Not... not Severus Snape?"

He chuckled. "Always in competition with Severus."

"He thinks he's your most..."

"I would not entrust the raising of my heir to Severus, Bella. Which is why I want to be certain you are ready for battle before I send you out. In the interim..."

He squeezed her breast, eliciting a gasp, as it brought her both pleasure and pain, not to mention a very specific discomfort related to the fact that her nipples had taken on an entirely new and different function over the last two weeks. He moved His mouth to between them, untying her corset and pushing the material out of His way, stretching against the cords that usually kept it closed. He continued this action all the way down her midsection. When His mouth met her lower belly, she stopped Him.

"Please, Master. I'm sore. I'm bleeding. I need to heal..."

"I know." He jerked apart her legs, shoving up the material of her long skirt, and for one terrifying moment she thought He was going to ignore her pleas entirely, but instead He kissed her bare inner thigh, flicked His snakelike tongue against the pale skin there, then moved back up to lay beside her.

"I could, perhaps, pleasure you in another way," she suggested, gently, tentatively slipping her hand down over His groin. When He groaned, she took it as invitation to grasp His hardness, to begin to stroke Him through the fabric of His tented wizard's robe.

He moaned her name as she used her mouth on Him, taking her time in bringing Him to completion, after which she assumed He would order her to return to her own chambers, but to her pleasant surprise He took her in His arms, now with her cheek resting against His chest, and held her until she was asleep, running His fingers through her wild hair, keeping her close, like a lover.

When she awoke the next morning, after her first full-night's sleep since before the birth of their baby, He was gone.


End file.
